Publication of polygamous practices in American media has brought the issue of the legality of polygamy into American politics and discussion forums as a question that pits multiculturalism and free choice versus liberalism. An evaluation of the legal history and current situation of polygamy reveals two sides to the issue. Advocates of multiculturalism such as Charles Taylor...
Every year members of Congress vote on numerous bills that will have an impact on the vitality of our environment. But what factors, if any, contribute to the way in which Members of the House vote on environmental legislation? In this paper, we postulate that religion has a large role in influencing the voting habits of Representatives. In order to test for religion’s impact, we...
International Justice Mission has a pervasive presence. It is one of the most prominent modern missionary agencies and within this role it serves as a symbol of Christianity pursuing justice. Because of this important position both within the Christian faith as well as on the global platform, it is imperative that International Justice Mission is analyzed with regard to...
The American buffalo is a symbol of the American West. It is well established that this American species faced extinction in the late nineteenth century. Many also know that at the turn of the century, President Theodore Roosevelt was a champion for the protection of America’s natural beauty, including its wildlife. As I began my research on Theodore Roosevelt and his role in...
Victorian novelist George Eliot presents a paradox: her writings seem highly religious and even specifically Christian, but she was an atheist who firmly rejected her Christian upbringing. In this paper, I examine Eliot’s attitude toward religion in the light of her novel Romola. Romola’s conflicted relationship with her mentor, Savonarola, presents a mirror image of Eliot’s own...
Many scholars have suggested that Plato’s accounts of akrasia in the Protagoras and The Republic are incongruent, which has led to a number of attempts at reconciling the account. I defend the view that the accounts do not square up, an explicit difference in Plato’s renderings of the concept of akrasia.
Sex trafficking has obtained a recent presence in the public eye due to its booming economy, and this potential profit for traffickers continues to allure more and more to this underground market that thrives off of the abduction, abuse and rape of its victims. In order to combat this growing epidemic, sex trafficking will first be analyzed from an economic standpoint, as the...
The report explores the prevalence of sex-selective abortion in India and its main causes. These include the patriarchal nature of Indian society and a general preference to have sons, as well as the availability and misuse of sex-determination technologies. It explores the consequences of sex-selective abortion, especially in regards to gender disparity and increased...
Samuel P. Huntington and the theory of the political good claim that any interactions between different religious and ethnic groups will bring about conflict. Therefore, “multiculturalism” only connotes the existence of more than one culture, with no hybridization between them. However, with increasing globalization and migration, it is becoming more difficult for a state to...
This paper analyzes the North Korean nuclear situation in a legal framework while assessing potential policy options for the international community. The recent change in North Korean leadership leaves spectators in question as to the new dictator’s agenda and goals. Reviewing the history of the state’s nuclear program in regard to international treaty law is fruitful in gauging...
This article explores the dichotomy of life and death in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing through Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive lens. The article traces the novel’s ostensible indications that death is absolute, but highlights passages from the work which suggest shared narratives can challenge and even conquer death’s sting. Ultimately, the article interprets how McCarthy’s...
Previous research on new media has largely focused on the potential media effects of alternative news sources on their viewers. The effects of these studies have been limited, however, to the narrow audiences targeted by the increasingly polarizing alternative news sources. The advent and popularization of social networks has provided a reason to suspect that, for the first time...
This article argues that the doctrine of sola fide is deeply problematic on the basis of two widely accepted philosophic principles, and then attempts to treat the problem exegetically. The article begins by showing that the “ought implies can” principle, which states that agents can only be held morally responsible for performing or not performing acts within their power...
John 4:19-26 is a part of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. This portion of the conversation includes Jesus’ first revelation of himself as the Messiah and the only way to the Father in what Eric John Wyckoff calls an “astonishing self-revelation unparalleled in its explicitness.” Jesus’ later claims develop these ideas further (John 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19...
For many, the environmental movement is a consumer fad with very little intellectual or emotional investment. Generally, sustainability is deemed a “good thing” but given low priority at both the personal level and the public policy level. In this paper, I argue that environmentalism must be modified to meet the needs of the general populace in order to gain momentum as a...
Despite America’s lengthy nation-building project in Afghanistan, many Afghans still lack the basic resources and security necessary for a viable nation. Furthermore, the insecurity in Afghanistan is increasingly spilling over into their neighbors, stressing an already fragile region. While we in the West have largely forgotten Afghanistan, its neighbors look on with trepidation...
This article explores the topic of children born of biracial couplings in East Asia. The offspring of such unique unions face severe discrimination and marginalization. The status and future of this minority is especially salient in primarily homogenous states, such as Korea, Japan, and China, where racism varies from social stigma to institutionalized policies. The article will...
This paper outlines three international policy options for Somalia in an effort to begin working towards solving the issues that have plagued the Horn of Africa for over 40 years. A short introduction summarizing Somalia’s tumultuous history precedes an examination of the three policy options. The first proposal, as supported and practiced by the U.S. State Department, is an...
As conscientious shoppers, the fair trade label we see on the coffee we drink from Starbucks and the bananas we buy at the natural food market often assure us of our ethical consumer choices. We should, however, question the accuracy of this marketing to find out where the products we buy actually come from. Are these goods truly traded fairly? Do these products provide equitable...
This paper seeks to argue that President Bill Clinton’s intervention in the Bosnian genocide was successful. In order to define success, the author compiles a list of Clinton’s explicitly stated goals for the region. The author explores Clinton’s campaign promises on Bosnia, which he expressed in public statements and the first presidential debate against the current President...
This article applies Alvin Plantinga’s principle that self-defeat is inherent in any theory which gives the theorist reason to doubt her own cognitive faculties to Kant’s theory of perception, transcendental idealism. Because transcendental idealism excludes the possibility of knowledge about things in themselves, including the transcendental idealist’s own cognitive faculties...
This article explores the dichotomy of life and death in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing through Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive lens. The article traces the novel’s ostensible indications that death is absolute, but highlights passages from the work which suggest shared narratives can challenge and even conquer death’s sting. Ultimately, the article interprets how McCarthy’s...
I first became aware of the British’s struggle with their Legal Aid system while interning with a nonprofit organization in London that conducted research on Legal Aid with the goal of improving individuals’ access to justice. The British have supported Legal Aid for over sixty years; however, during this time it has reached an unsustainable level its current budget being two...
The "Journeyer's Journal" consists of short narratives describing international experiences by Pepperdine University undergraduate students. Here, Lauren Johnson describes Jerusalem, Israel, and Florence, Italy.